Now that the first twelve chapters of “The Elect Stories” have been released for a bit, it seems like a fine time to talk about where the tale goes from here. After all, some of you who have finished reading these 12 have been asking for a while about certain characters and scenes that definitely feel like they are setting up further adventures, and I promised I’d say more when the time comes.
Hey, look! It’s time!
First, let me assure you that the writing of those further adventures is already well underway. From the beginning, I plotted “The Elect Stories” as thirty-six chapters, divided into three volumes of twelve. I am currently four chapters deep in the second volume. It is all going to plan. Well, almost all. My readership is dedicated, and for that I thank you, but small. I hope to grow the audience for Volume One while I continue work on Volume Two. Hopefully, Volume Two will have a larger audience awaiting it when it arrives. While Mr. Sharp and I have not taken aim at a target release date yet, plans are already afoot.
In the meantime, Mr. Sharp and I are preparing a compendium edition of the first volume, which will be entitled “Elect.” More than a simple compilation, “Elect” will feature newly revised versions of the first twelve chapters, some with added material, as well as expanded character biographies and glossary, more artwork, and even a map!
A few readers have asked me about the editing process for “Elect,” particularly how well twelve novella-length stories that were originally published as individual pulp ‘zines can fit together as a single novel. The short answer is that they were always planned out that way, even though the connections between the stories isn’t obvious at first. Here’s the longer answer, a description of the structure of “Elect”:
#1 and #2 – Taken together, these stories form a prologue, setting up the world, introducing major players, and kicking off the “cycle of prophecy” in both the past and present stories.
#3 – #6 – Written in present tense with scattered flashbacks, these feel like separate and distinct stories at first, but each of these chapters introduces a major character, provides details about the failure of the original quest, and serve as “Act One” of this volume. By the end of #6, we also know exactly what the Devil of Black Water is up to.
#7 – #9 – These three chapters serve as “Act Two” and, as with all second acts, they bring deeper complications to the story. These story complications are reflected in the structure of the chapters themselves. For the first time, past and present tense stories are intercut, and we move between the POVs of multiple characters.
#10 – #12 – “Act Three” wraps up both the past and present tense stories while setting up the adventures to come.
I have already written extensively about my “fractal structure,” in which each chapter is built of three acts, each volume of twelve is built of three acts, and each volume forms a single act of the larger three act story. In that light, the current collection of twelve stories should provide a satisfyingly complete read while also setting up the two future volumes.
Is it working? Let us know! And if you have any requests for the compendium version of “Elect,” let us know that, too!
